CARSON, CA.-Crazy Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga proved he may not be the most skillful, but he entertained the crowd and puzzled Sugar Shane Mosley until the Pomona fighter slipped into another gear for a last second knockout win on Saturday.

All along Mayorga had implored Mosley to stand and fight like a man and he got his wish and so did the more than 5,000 fans at the Home Depot who saw both fighters trade big blows and gut checks throughout the 12 rounds.

Mayorga (28-7-1, 22 KOs) entertained the fans with his crazy antics and self-cheering but during the fight he proved he could take a great punch until he ran out of gas in the final round. Mosley didn’t have it easy.

“He hit me with some right hands a couple of times. The overhand right,” said Mosley (45-5, 38 KOs), 37, after winning the fight. “He took some good shots.”

From the very beginning Mayorga’s street fighting style with wind up right hands and funny combinations truly puzzled Mosley. For the first three rounds Mosley frowned at the success the Nicaraguan was having.

The first right hand Mayorga fired he landed and seemed to puzzle Mosley with his wild but effective offense. The Nicaraguan stood on top of his stool at the end of the first rounds as if to celebrate his style.

“It wasn’t that I was sluggish I was watching out for his left hooks an overhand rights,” said Mosley. “I was kind of hesitant.”

Mosley tried to rev up his attack in the third round but Mayorga dipped under every move and fired his own wild right hands that proved effective.

Mosley opened up his arsenal in the sixth round with a right hand, left hook combination that rocked Mayorga who nodded his head in approval. Mosley looked for a knockout but couldn’t hurt the Nicaraguan who fired his own combinations.

“In the sixth round I was hitting him with some combinations” Mosley said, adding that he could sense him weakening. “I knew I had to chop him down.”

After firing so many punches in the previous round Mosley seemed to slip into remote while Mayorga tried to find a way to land his vaunted right hand. The Nicaraguan was the busier fighter in a lackluster seventh round.

In a sloppy 10th round Mosley returned to his right hand but Mayorga doesn’t seem fazed by the blows. Still it’s the Pomona fighters best round in a while.

Mayorga continued to raise his hand in victory in the middle of the 11th round, but Mosley’s right hand bombs connected. The action was the best in a while.

After some sloppy rounds and both fighter somewhat weary, both fighters slugged it out and Mosley connected with a left hook-right hand-left hook combination to drop Mayorga for the first time in the fight with seconds remaining. Mayorga got up but was met with a ripping left hook to the chin and down he went for good with one second remaining. Referee David Mendoza stopped the fight with Mayorga lying on the ground.

“I told you Ricardo Mayorga is the type of fighter that will bring the best out of me.

He’s so unpredictable I didn’t know what was going on if he was gong to throw the right hand or the left hook,” said Mosley. “He stole some rounds.”

It was a good thing Mosley knocked out Mayorga, the judges had it scored differently. Judge Nelson Vasquez had it 105-104 and Tony Crebs 107-102 both for Mosley, but judge Pat Russell scored it 105-104 for Mayorga.

“I was trying to win the fight,” said Mayorga who did not slow down in the last round. “I’m proud of the way Shane fought. He didn’t run.”

WBC welter title

Andre Berto (23-0, 19 KOs) cleared up some criticisms about his hold on the WBC welterweight title with a clear-cut victory over veteran Steve Forbes (33-7, 9 KOs) by decision.

After capturing the WBC title against a relatively unknown opponent, Berto finally nabbed a name on his resume with a win over the clever Forbes who just couldn’t muster enough firepower to keep the titleholder from landing combinations.

“It was a tough night. I came to win,” said Forbes, who landed some flashy combinations early in the fight.

Berto’s best round occurred in the eighth round with a right uppercut that sent Forbes mouthpiece soaring 10 feet up in the air. It was the uppercut and four-punch combinations that kept Forbes from countering in his usual manner.

A point was deducted from Berto for his use of an elbow in the third round. The judges scored it 118-109 twice and 116-111 for Berto.

I learned a lot. He can take a heckuva punch and has tremendous skills,” said Berto who made his first successful title defense. “I went to class today.”

Other bouts

Scotland’s Craig McEwan, who trains out of Hollywood, California with trainer Freddy Roach, pummeled Idaho’s Hilario Lopez all eight rounds of the middleweight bout. He scored a knockdown in the first round with a sharp right hook and proved the better boxer. The judges scored 80-71 for McEwan.

Former welterweight world champion Luis Collazo (29-3, 14 KOs) fought the much taller Russell Jordan (15-6, 10 KOs) in a super middleweight fight and proved too skillful for the lanky southpaw. A picture perfect left hook and right hand snapped Jordan’s head as he crumbled along the ropes. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. stopped the bout at 2:28 of the eight and final round.

Middleweight prospect Daniel Jacobs scored two knockdowns and was extended the distance for the first time in his young pro career by Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Gonzalez. The scores were 60-52, 59-51, and 59-53 for Jacobs.

Tim Austin scored a unanimous decision win over Domonic Jenkins in a heavyweight contest that lasted all eight rounds. The judges scored it 79-73, 77-75, 78-74 for Austin.

In a lightweight bout Adrien Broner (3-0, 3 KOs) of Ohio knocked down Ramon Flores (2-3-1) three times with two left hooks and with a right hand. The last knockdown at 2:11 proved the end.

New York’s Marques Johnson (16-0, 13 KOs) knocked out Julio De La Cruz (15-5-1) with an overhand right hand at 1:44 of the seventh round of a welterweight fight.